ROME – International promotion for two other Italian protected areas: after the Gran Paradiso National Park, in fact, even those of the Tuscan Archipelago and the Casentinesi Forests enter the prestigious “Green List” of the IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature which has more than 1,200 affiliated organizations around the world and which rewards the world excellence of protected areas through a certification program for those that are actually the best in terms of naturalistic conservation and sustainable management.

This was announced today by the Italian Iucn committee (www.iucn.it) which received the official communication from the Swiss office. With the new entrances (in addition to the two Italian parks, also French, Swiss and South Korean protected areas), the Green List is enriched, which includes 138 parks (in 16 different countries around the world) between those “promoted” and those “candidates”, still in awaiting a verdict, including the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park and the Punta Campanella Marine Protected Area, both in Italy (to explore the Green List: https://iucngreenlist.org/).

“This is a recognition of great international value – explains the Italian IUCN committee – which reports on the daily commitments in the four strategic pillars defined by governance, planning, management and conservation results. However, the aspects concerning participation and sharing with communities and the territory in terms of sustainability are also relevant; the latter is assessed both in terms of participation and sharing, and as regards infrastructure and production activities within the perimeter of the protected area “. Federparchi, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Ecological Transition, follows and accompanies the Italian protected areas in the complex process of acquiring this prestigious international certification.

“I am very proud – says Giampiero Sammuri (in the pic), president of Federparchi, vice president of IUCN Italy, as well as president of the Tuscan Archipelago Park – of this result, both for the park I preside over and for the other two. Federparchi is following the certification path of the Green List in Italy and I am sure that soon other parks will be added to the Tuscan Archipelago, the Casentinesi Forests and the Gran Paradiso, demonstrating the excellence achieved in the management of our enormous natural heritage. I want to thank you for this important result both the Parks staff who worked with commitment and perseverance to achieve this goal, and that of Federparchi who assisted them with competence, and the IUCN and Egle Italia who, despite the rigorous role of evaluators, helped us to better understand the mechanisms to achieve this prestigious certification “.

The Minister for Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, is also satisfied. “The IUCN Green List is the highest certification of excellence in the world as regards the governance of protected areas. – declares the minister -. It is a source of great satisfaction that three Italian national parks have achieved this goal, demonstrating the value not only in terms of biodiversity protection but also in the overall management of our precious natural capital “.